The 10th regular season of the Great Lakes Hockey League comes down to a handful of games remaining on the league slate this weekend with as many as three teams still poised to claim first place – or a share of first place – and the #1 seed for the league tournament.
Here are the scenarios:
If Padua Franciscan defeats Gilmour Academy on Friday night, the Bruins will finish in sole possession of first place and University School second. Padua is the only team with the opportunity to finish alone in the top spot.
If Gilmour Academy defeats Padua, but fails to win one of its remaining games (against Shaker Heights and Walsh Jesuit), Padua and University School would share the points title. With wins over US in both of the league games between the two schools, Padua would earn the #1 seed for the Cleveland Cup.
If Gilmour wins out, collecting all six points still available to it, the Lancers will create a three-way tie for the regular season title between GA, Padua and US. In this scenario, all three teams would be crowned as co-champions and tie-breakers would be used to determine seeding for the Cleveland Cup (all three would also get a bye into the semifinals).
The GLHL has had a tie for first place just one other time. University School and Walsh Jesuit tied for first place in the inaugural season of 2013-14 with identical 7-1-2 records in league play.
Despite still being in the running for a share of the league title going into Friday’s game, the possibility also exists that Gilmour finishes in a tie for third place with Shaker and Walsh and, based on tie-breakers, has to play in Tuesday’s play-in (quarterfinal) game against either the Red Raiders or Warriors.
If any tie-breakers are needed to determine the final seeding for the league tournament, the following will be used:
1) Head-to-head results; 2) most league wins; 3) goal differential head-to-head*; 4) goal differential in league play; 5) goals for in league play; 6) goals against in league play; 7) coin flip.
* in the event of a three-way tie this step would be skipped
Tue., Feb. 7
6:00 p.m. #4 vs. #5
Fri., Feb. 10
6:00 p.m. #1 vs. Tuesday winner
8:10 p.m. #2 vs. #3
Sat., Feb. 11
8:00 p.m. championship game
With three league games in three days still remaining on the schedule on the final weekend of the season, Gilmour Academy can finish anywhere from the top to the bottom seed for the Cleveland Cup. A sweep of all three games by the Lancers would create a three-way tie atop the league standings. Gilmour cost itself the possibility of finishing alone atop the league standings last weekend by letting two points get away in overtime against Walsh (3-2) Saturday and then losing at US (4-1) on Sunday…GA has lost its last four games and is 2-6-0 over its last eight…Matthew Bauman leads Gilmour with 14 goals, but the Lancers have five more skaters with between 6-8: Cole Bridges, Colton Fairchild, Viktor Provozhaev, Luke Radke and Brennan Friedman. Fairchild leads the team with 19 assists.
It’s all pretty simple for the Padua Franciscan Bruins. Defeat Gilmour Friday night at OBM Arena and claim the first GLHL title (regular season or tournament) in school history. Padua heads into its regular season finale with three victories in a row – including league wins against Shaker Heights and University School – and six wins in its last eight (6-2-0)…Liam Conway notched a pair of goals and added an assist in a 5-0 win over Medina last Friday, snapping a three-game point draught and getting him back up to a point-per-game this season (10-11-21 in 21 games)…The Bruins have been in the Top 10 in the MyHockeyRankings for the OHSAA all season and currently sit #7 right behind Gilmour.
Shaker Heights has just one game remaining on its regular season schedule but it’s a big one. A win at Gilmour Academy on Saturday could keep the Red Raiders in third place and allow them to go directly into the Cleveland Cup semifinals. Although, if Gilmour won both of their other games, the Red Raiders and Lancers would finish tied for third and head-to-head goal differential in the season series between the two teams could end up breaking the tie. In their previous meeting, GA defeated Shaker, 4-3, on December 3 at Thornton Park.
University School closes out their regular season schedule with a non-league game against Medina on Saturday. The Preppers have completed their league slate, but gave themselves a shot at a share of the league points title with wins over Shaker Heights and Gilmour Academy last weekend. University School is in the unique position of rooting for SOM Center Road rival Gilmour Academy Friday night as a Lancers win over Padua would ensure the Preppers a share of first place. With a +11 goal differential in league play, US is well-positioned (though not guaranteed at this point) to earn the #1 seed for the Cleveland Cup in the event of a three-way tie at the top of the standings…Winners six of their last eight (6-2-0), US remains #3 in the state wedged in between #2 Olentangy Liberty and #4 Sylvania Northview…The Preppers have not won the Cleveland Cup despite playing in the championship game five times (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019).
As we head into the final weekend of the season it is possible that Walsh Jesuit ends up in last place in the GLHL, but that is very deceiving. The Warriors are on a 4-1-1 run that includes impressive performances against three teams ranked in the top-six in the state: league wins over #3 University School and #6 Gilmour Academy and a tie with #2 Olentangy Liberty. So, while the possibility still exists that the Warriors can finish as high as a tie for third place if they can win at Gilmour Sunday and get some help, they have to be pretty confident that they can make some noise in the Cleveland Cup even if they have to play through Tuesday’s quarterfinal as the fourth or fifth seed.…Walsh is the only team not to lose to Liberty in its last 24 games (23-0-1)…The Warriors will play a non-league game against the Newark Generals on Saturday.
Luke Palmer, University School
Senior forward Luke Palmer of University School is this week’s Great Lakes Hockey League Player of the Week.
Palmer scored two goals, including the game-winner, to spark US to a 4-1 road win over Shaker Heights on Friday night. He also assisted on Samonte Martin’s ice-breaking goal in the first period for a three-point night.
Then, on Sunday, Palmer notched a hat trick to lead the Preppers to a 4-1 win over Gilmour Academy in a key game in the race for first place in the GLHL.
“Luke stepped up in two huge rivalry league games when we needed him most,” said Preppers’ head coach Andy Gerow. “Luke and his line mates, Sam Wade and Anthony Messina, have gelled nicely this season and been huge for our team. We will continue to look to Luke to give us big goals in big moments.”
Palmer, who now leads US with 20 goals on the season, has multiple points in six of his last 10 games.
--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest